The Three Students Who Can't Get Along and The Teacher Who Binds Them
by Murayama-Tsuru
Summary: It all starts when Katsura goes to visit Shouyou-Sensei's grave. And then something happens that brings the thee idiot students together despite their all but crumbling bond.


**Hello again or for the first time, Murayama Tsuru here. I bring to you a new Gintama oneshot! I've had this idea since…well, this morning. It was something that I wanted to write eventually, but figured I wouldn't have time. But then my cable system decided to die on me and I found I had some time on my hands. So, that is how this oneshot came to be! I got the idea from a video I found on YouTube. I will explain that later ^_^ so without anything else to say at the moment, I hope you enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it is the property of Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei!**_

How had it come to this? It had only been a day since the anniversary of his death and now they were fighting like they were little kids again. Well…Not exactly like they were little kids, back then they weren't as adept with the sword as they were now. In order to explain why Gin, Katsura, and Takasugi are staring each other down, we must go back to yesterday morning.

That morning, Katsura had woken up extra early so he could buy his teacher's favorite flowers and arrive at that place before noon. He'd invited both Takasugi and Gintoki to come with him, but Gin declined and he never got a reply from Takasugi. So, Katsura left his hideout, alone, for his teacher's grave.

At first, for some completely inexplicable reason, Katsura was excited to go visit Shouyou-Sensei. There were so many things Katsura wanted to tell him, so many memories he wanted to relive with his former teacher, that he almost forgot he was long dead, beheaded for not agreeing with the Bakufu.

When Katsura arrived at the grave, though, all his previous excitement was gone, replaced by a profound sense of loneliness instead. He could feel his teacher's presence so strongly; it brought tears to his eyes. For a moment, he thought he saw Shouyou-Sensei perched atop the headstone, smiling at Katsura, proud of the Samurai he had become. But then Katsura blinked, and the image was gone.

Felling the loneliest he had all day, Katsura decided to leave, deciding that he didn't really feel like a having a conversation with someone who wasn't in this world anymore after all. But as he turned to leave, his eyes fell on something he'd failed to notice before. On Shouyou-Sensei's grave was a bottle of his favorite Sake and some of his favorite snacks. Seeing these, a grin appeared on Katsura's face.

Suddenly Katsura turned to his right and shouted, "Gintoki! I knew you'd be here! You should have told me when you were coming and we could have journeyed here together!"

Then Katsura turned to his left and shouted, "And you too, Shinsuke! We should have all come here together! That would have made Sensei happy!" Katsura then heard Gin's familiar "Tch" and Takasugi's annoyed "Humph" and knew he'd won. It was only a matter of time before they came out of their hiding places behind the bushes and tree, respectively.

But Katsura's triumph was disrupted by a loud boom and an annoyingly familiar "Ah-ha-ha-ha!" Katsura heard Gin and Takasugi jump out from their hiding places, wondering what the hell had just happened, just as Sakamoto's curly mop appeared from a large cloud of smoke and said, "Ah, Zura, I'm sorry I'm late! Mutsu wouldn't let me leave until I finished all my work, Ah-ha-ha-ha! She made me miss my train, so I had to fly myself here! But, it looks like I crashed, Ah-ha-ha-ha!"

The three stared in silence at Sakamoto's sudden, loud entrance; Katsura didn't remember inviting him here at all. But before anyone could say anything (even his usual "It's not Zura, it's Katsura!), they heard sirens and police cars appeared all around them.

Then Hijikata Toshiro and Okita Sougo stepped out from one of the cars. Okita cocked his bazooka and Hijikata shouted, "Katsura Kotaro, Takasugi Shinsuke, you are under arrest for terrorism. Come quietly and…" he trailed off then, both wanted terrorists had run off without letting the Shinsengumi arrest them.

The mayo eating, cigarette smoking Demon Vice-Captain then turned to Gin, who was trying to sneak away unnoticed. Hijikata put a hand on the silver perm's shoulder and sneered, "It looks like my prey has disappeared on me yet again. At least I can capture the famous Shiro Yasha as a consolation prize."

"NO!" Gin shouted, "Get back here you bastards, and face your arrest like the Samurai you're supposed to be!"

But, Katsura and Takasugi were already too far away the hear him, and Hijikata ignored him, saying, "Sakata Gintoki, you are under arrest for aiding two of Edo's most wanted criminals." And a very pissed off Gin was pushed into a police car to the background music of Sakamoto laughing hysterically. Gin still couldn't understand why the sunglasses wearing lunatic had even come in the first. And he didn't really have the patience to think about it either, his former comrades "betrayal" was a much more pressing matter at the moment.

* * *

Early the next morning, Gin stomped up the stairs to his house. He was now extremely tired and extremely angry. Those damn Shinsengumi had the nerve to question him about the whereabouts of Zura and Bakasugi. Which of course he didn't know, it's not like he kept tabs on those two idiots after all.

And then, to make matters worse, as he was walking home, it started raining. So, he was forced into the nearest convenience store to spend the last 300 yen in his pocket on a damn umbrella (he had been saving that up for the week's Shonen Jump!). By the time Gin got into his house, he had no energy left. So, he plopped himself down in the hall and fell promptly asleep. He dreamt, for the first time in a long time, about Shouyou-Sensei.

Around noon, Gin was woken up by Shinpachi and Kagura when they came in through the front door. More specifically, Gin was woken up by Shinpachi's surprised yell at Gin's sleeping in the hallway.

Kagura, seeing Gin was now awake and ignoring Shinpachi's surprise, said, "Gin-chan, since you didn't come home last night, I was forced to spend the night with Shinpachi and Anego. I'm letting you know now, that we had a lot of fun without you!"

Gin chuckled, "Did you now? I'd love to hear all about it."

Just as Kagura started recounting her night, Shinpachi then tapped his fist on his palm in sudden remembrance, "Gin-san, I almost forgot, there's a sale going on at your favorite Dango place. I figured you'd be mad if we went without you, so we came back to…"

Before Shinpachi could finish his sentence, Gin jumped and said enthusiastically, "Then what are we standing around here talking for? Let's get going already!" And Gin practically dragged the two out the door, almost forgetting that it was raining outside.

* * *

Katsura was sitting in his newest hideout, feeling bored. Why was Elizabeth taking so long? She was usually so quick about these things, so Katsura didn't know what the problem was. Maybe the rain was slowing her down; she had told him once that she loved rain, maybe she so was busy playing in it, that she forgot about him.

Suddenly, a thought came to him: What if Elizabeth had been captured by the Shinsengumi? What if they were torturing her with cheese fondue? 'Oh, the horror!' Katsura thought dramatically, 'If that's the case, I must go and rescue her at once!' Just as Katsura's thoughts were spiraling out of control, there was a knock at the door. Katsura relaxed immediately, he knew that knock. It was Elizabeth, she'd come back, unscathed, with what he's asked for.

Katsura opened the door to Elizabeth's emotionless face, an umbrella in one hand and a cloth package in the other, and grinned, "Ah, Elizabeth, you have returned at last!"

The duck-penguin thing seemed to be rolling its eyes as it held up a sign that read '_Of course I came back, Katsura-san. What, did you think I'd been captured by the Shinsengumi and they were torturing me with cheese fondue or some such nonsense like that?'_

"N-no," Katsura flushed, as usual Elizabeth seemed to be able to read his mind, "I wasn't thinking that. A-anyway, did you bring what I asked for?"

Elizabeth nodded and her next sign read, '_Yes, it took me a while to find them, though, because I didn't remember where exactly you hid them_' Elizabeth then presented Katsura with a package.

Katsura unwrapped it to reveal his wandering Buddhist Monk costume from volume 4 of Gintama. After studying the costume for several seconds, Katsura grinned up at Elizabeth, "Thank you Elizabeth! Now we can go have lunch at Ikumatsu-dono's without being spotted!"

Elizabeth held up another sign in response, '_Yeah, and after that we can have dessert at the nearest Dango shop. I hear they're having a sale.'_

* * *

Takasugi looked out the window of the Kiheitai ship at the rain pouring down. It seemed that the sky was crying for him for the loss of his teacher all those years ago. He sighed, why was he unable to shed a single tear when the sky could mourn so freely.

Deep in his thoughts, Takasugi didn't notice the knock at his door. Whoever had just knocked decided that no answer was enough invitation to enter his room. Takasugi was jolted out of his thoughts when his door banged open and Matako came in, asking in her usual loud voice, "Shinsuke-sama, I heard there was a sale at a Dango place nearby and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me? Of course…Bansai and Sempai would be coming too, so it wouldn't be just us…"

And Matako chattered on while Takasugi thought about her offer. Eventually, he decided that he was too restless to stay inside anymore. So he stood up and motioned to Matako that he had agreed to her plan. Matako beamed merrily and trotted along after him.

* * *

By the three arrived at the Dango place, it had stopped raining. Initially, the three hadn't run into each other, but then, Gin recognized Katsura in his wandering monk costume and approached him. Gin glared at him, and yelled that he should have stuck around yesterday so the Shinsengumi could arrest him. Katsura, in his defense, said that if the Shinsengumi had arrested him, his men would not know what to do, so he had to run away. Gin rolled his eyes, but didn't feel like arguing anymore, so he sat down on the bench next to his former comrade and began eating his Dango.

As the two were eating their, Takasugi came up to them, sneering, "Well if isn't the two idiots. I didn't think I'd see you again so soon."

Both Gin and Katsura stood up then, glaring at Takasugi. Gin, a vein throbbing on his head, Dango still in his mouth, growled, "That would be my line, Bakasugi. What are you here for anyway? Come to apologize for ditching me yesterday?"

Takasugi huffed threateningly, but said nothing in response. The three stood there glaring at each other, the air almost crackling with the tension between them.

After a few tense moments, something caved and swords were drawn and stances were taken. But before anything could happen, there was a light tsk, and a voice the three hadn't heard in a very long time said, "You three still aren't getting along after all these years? What a shame."

The three turned to see Shouyou-Sensei smiling at them, and they all had the exact same reaction, "S-Sensei? What are you doing here?"

Their former teacher's smile widened, "Well, since you all took the time to visit me yesterday, I thought I'd return the favor."

That came from way outta left field; their dead teacher decided to visit them from beyond the grave as thanks for them visiting his grave. Seeing his former students' shock, Yoshida Shouyou laughed, "Why don't we play a game for old time's sake? Catch me if you can!" and he started running

Before any of the three could even think about what they were doing, they found themselves running after their teacher at full speed. As they chased him, they remembered long past school days.

After a while, Shouyou yelled back at them, "What's taking you guys so long? You're younger than your old teacher; you should be able to catch me easily!"

Panting, Gin managed to yell, "No, Sensei, we're the same age as you now!"

Shouyou looked confused, "Is that so? Has it really been that long?"

This time it was Takasugi who answered, "Sensei, it's been ten years since you were killed."

Their teacher sighed at that, "I've been gone a long time then haven't I?"

Now Katsura spoke, "It has been too long, Sensei. But it doesn't matter anymore since you're here now."

Shouyou-Sensei smiled at that, looking happy to see how his students' had grown. Then he waved at them and faded from their sight without another warning. Confused, Katsura, Gin and Takasugi kept running…right over a bridge.

As they were falling Gin growled, "Since when was there a bridge here?"

Katsura responded, dead serious, "I don't know, Gintoki. Maybe Sensei built it when we were chasing him?"

Gin scoffed, but before he had time to retort they entered the water with a splash. Now completely soaking wet, the three surfaced. While Gin and Takasugi looked miffed at having been tricked by their teacher, Katsura looked happy. It was thanks to their teacher yet again that their bond still existed.

Katsura then extended a hand to Gin and said, "C'mon Gintoki, let's go back to the Dango shop. I'm sure the others are wondering where we are."

Gin nodded and used Katsura's hand to haul himself into a standing position. He then, in turn, extended a hand to Takasugi, who rejected it. Gin, annoyed, then grabbed Takasugi by the collar of his Kimono and dragged him as they exited the water.

At first, Takasugi looked extremely pissed about being dragged around by Gin, but he didn't resist. Until he kicked Gin savegly in the side, glaring at him good naturedly. Up in the sky, Shouyou watched his three idiot students, thinking, 'I'm glad to see that everything they've been through hasn't changed them too much.'

**And that is the end! This story was, as I said inspired by a YouTube video. I found it a couple days ago and really liked it. The song really fit the Gintama spirit, but the translated lyrics have nothing to do with Gintama. The song is called Manifesto by Radwimps. Well, as always if you'd like please review, I love to know what you guys think! Until next time then!**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


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